Satellites can be deployed into orbit to provide various space-based operations, such as military and civilian observation operations, communications operations, navigation operations, weather operations, and research operations. Satellites can include various sensors and communication equipment that are used to perform desired tasks. For example, a weather satellite may include one or more cameras or imaging sensors that can be used to take images of Earth, and communication equipment that can be used to communicate the images to a control system on Earth. Although satellites can be configured to perform these specialized operations, satellites are expensive to create and launch into orbit, especially for organizations that may not require the use of an entire satellite with a large number of sensors, or may not require continuous operations on the satellite. As a result, organizations may avoid the use of satellites, limiting the use of promising satellite technology.